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"I ran to have a spirited debate on the issues and to advocate for new ways to create jobs, lower taxes, protect personal freedoms, and fight for the principles of Ronald Reagan who inspired me to become a Republican as a young man," Loscocco says in a statement he is scheduled to deliver later today.

"The primary between the Independent ticket and Republican ticket in the hearts and minds of the voters who want a change from Governor Patrick is now over. Charlie Baker and [Baker's running mate] Richard Tisei have prevailed over Tim Cahill and me," Loscocco added.

Loscocco, a former Republican state representative, dropped his party affiliation when he announced in January that he was joining Cahill, a former Democrat and current state treasurer, on the independent ticket. Massachusetts is one of about two dozen states in which candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team on the same ticket.

The announcement comes as a Boston Globe poll released earlier this week showed Baker pulling even with Patrick, thanks in part to an advertising blitz against Patrick launched by the Republican Governors Association. Patrick took 35 percent to Baker's 34 percent among likely voters in the poll, while Cahill took 11 percent.